1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to overhead surgical lighting fixtures and, more specifically, to disposable handles for use with surgical lighting fixtures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, surgical lighting fixtures are composed of a mechanical suspension system and a main body which houses a number of electric lamps. The suspension system allows the lighting fixture to be moved horizontally, vertically and at various angles. As such, the lighting fixtures may be easily manipulated by operating room personnel in order to focus the light produced by the lamps on the appropriate location.
One common method of preventing contamination of sterile surgical environments is to provide disposable handles for surgical lighting fixtures. Such handles may include an elongate portion which is gripped during manipulation of the lighting fixture and a shield which extends radially from the elongate portion. The shield prevents the user's hand from extending beyond the elongate handle and contacting the lighting fixture. If the operating environment is of the type where the lighting fixture is a non-sterile element, then the handle prevents the contamination of gloves worn by those who adjust the fixture.
Disposable handles are often included in hermetically sealed "surgical kits" which include sterile sets of surgical instruments needed for a particular surgical procedure. Prior to surgery, operating room personnel simply open the kit and attach the disposable handle to the lighting fixture. During surgery, the only portion of the lighting fixture which is touched is the disposable handle. After surgery, the handle may be removed from the lighting fixture and discarded.
One disadvantage of prior art disposable handles is that, due to their radially extending shields, they cannot be arranged so that they lie flat. This makes it difficult to pack them in surgical kits which contain generally flat instruments such as scalpels, clamps and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,288 to Reasner provides an advantageous solution to this problem in the art. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 of the '288 patent, the Reasner shield includes a pair of hinged side portions which may be folded downwardly, thereby forming a compact device which may be easily packed in a surgical kit. After the surgical kit is opened, the hinged side portions may be manually repositioned from a folded orientation to the orientation shown in FIG. 3 of the '288 patent. The handle may then be screwed into an adapter socket which is attached to the lighting fixture.